Buying your first home can be an intimidating prospect but we aim to help make it very achievable. There are lots of helpful guides available to help with different aspects from saving to solicitors. The first people you will deal with are people like us – the mortgage advisors. Our aim is to give you an idea of what you will be able to borrow and how affordable your repayments will be before you start dreaming of that new home.

Overview

To give you an overview of the whole process check out our Home Buying Process guide that helps you get a bird’s-eye view of what is coming next and how far along the process you are.

Step 1 – Financial Assessment & affordability checks – When you come in to our offices for our first meeting, we will look at your finances and aim to be able to give you a ‘mortgage promise’, this is an agreement in principle to lend to you based on an assessment of your personal circumstances. This will give you an idea of what properties you should be able to afford – now, let the house hunting commence!

Step 2 – Find your new home – this is the fun bit! Whether you want to visit your local estate agents, trawl PropertyPal or PropertyNews for hours or just take a drive round some of the areas you want to live in – this is your chance to explore, discover and dream.

Step 3 – Select your Mortgage and Insurance Options – Once you have chosen the house you want and made an offer that has been accepted, you will come into the office again to finalise which mortgage you’d like to apply for (more info here) and what insurance options are available. You also need to speak to a solicitor too (contact us if you need a recommendation).

Step 4 – Mortgage Application & Documents Submitted, valuation arranged with lender – We will then submit your mortgage and insurance applications. The lender will then arrange the valuation to carried out on the property by contacting the estate agent or the vendor. From the date of your application through to getting your mortgage approved by the lender should take 2-3 weeks.

Step 5 – Mortgage Offer Approved – If the lender is happy to proceed and approves your application, your solicitor will be able to carry out the legal aspect of the purchase. This typically takes 6 to 12 weeks depending on the complexity of circumstances but in some cases can take longer.

Step 6 – Your solicitor will carry out the legal process of the purchase and you will sign the contract – Your solicitor will ‘dot all the Is and cross all the Ts’ and they will give you your completion date (this can sometimes change) and you can start to make plans around packing, booking movers, enlisting the services of your family and putting ‘Operation Pinterest Board’ into full swing

Step 7 – Completion! – Get your keys and start to make your house your home! – Now all that’s left is to move in and start making memories.

If you have any further questions about this process or want to book an appointment, get in touch by clicking the button below.

YOUR PROPERTY MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON YOUR MORTGAGE.

Our typical fee is between £0 and £500 payable on receipt of mortgage offer. The amount we charge is dependent on the amount of research and administration required.
Registered address- Emerson House C/O Mcguire And Farry Ballynahinch Road, Carryduff, Belfast, United Kingdom, BT8 8DN. Country of registration – Northern Ireland, and Registration number - NI646512